DE2618490A1 - CONTAINER FOR A CIGARETTE MAKING MACHINE - Google Patents

Description

Patent attorneys

Dipl. Phys. W. Schmitz
Dipl. Ing. E.

Ö r / iüncoen 2.
Mozartstrasse 23

Molins Limited

2, Evelyn Street Munich, April 26, 1976

Peptford, London SE8 5DH, England Legal File : M-3903

Container for a cigarette making machine

The invention relates to a container for a cigarette making machine. Such a container is usually used to keep a steady stream of tobacco, which is usually the shape a loose "carpet" on the part of the cigarette making machine dispense, in which the filling of the cigarette is formed.

A container according to the invention for a cigarette making machine is characterized in that it has: a first, tine on v / iron belt conveyor with a working strand,

a device for applying tobacco to the working section; of the first belt conveyor having tines and a second belt conveyor having tines, the working section of which corresponds to the working f strand of the first belt conveyor is adjacent and essentially j

runs parallel to this and that with the speed

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of the first belt conveyor of different speed is running, and that the prongs of the two belt conveyors are arranged so that they each pass between the prongs of the other belt conveyor and the tobacco is hackled and / or lumps in the tobacco are pulled apart while the tobacco is between the Belt conveyors is moved forward.

The term "belt conveyor having tines" should also be understood to mean a belt conveyor that carries slats that e.g. extend across the conveyor belt at regular intervals and protrude from the surface of the conveyor belt and are notched at regular intervals on their outer edges so that they are serrated or similar to saw teeth Have shape, the remaining teeth between the notches serve as prongs or spikes.

Preferred embodiments of a container according to the invention for use in cigarette making machines are given in the subclaims. Those in some of the subclaims (In particular dependent claims 9, 11 and 15) claimed features However, they are also advantageous and inventive on their own and not only in connection with an arrangement: in which the tobacco is moved between two belt conveyors.

The invention is explained below with the aid of exemplary embodiments

explained in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawing. ;

i In this show: I.

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609846/0727

Fig. 1 is a schematic view of a first according to the invention Container;

Figure 2 is a view of a portion of the container shown in Figure 1 on an enlarged scale;

■ Fig. 3 is a schematic view of a second according to the invention Container; and

= Fig. 4 shows a modified embodiment for part of the in Fig. 3 shown container.

The container shown in FIG. 1 has a storage space 10 into which from time to time, if necessary, tobacco is filled using a dispensing unit 11. The bottom of the storage space 10 is formed by a conveyor belt 12 which is continuously driven in the direction indicated. In predefined [NEM and if desired adjustable distance above the conveyor · * -

i band 12 a sensing unit 13 is arranged, which e.g. by a light - * -

; source and a photocell, i.e. a light barrier

I can. The sensing unit 13 controls the supply of tobacco to the pre

: council room 10 such that on the conveyor belt 12 there is always a tobacco

'Carpet 14 is obtained in approximately uniform thickness. Preferential ί

j wisely the thickness of the tobacco carpet is in the range from 50 to; 200 mm. The dispensing unit 11 can pull the tobacco pneumatically;

; leads to be; such arrangements are known to those skilled in the art. j

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The side of the storage space 10 located on the left in the drawing is through the upwardly running working strand of a first prong 15A supporting conveyor belt 15 limited. As can be seen from FIG is, the prongs 15A are arranged on the conveyor belt 15 in rows that extend across the conveyor belt. The prongs 15A are on strip-shaped fastening bodies 15B arranged, which in turn are attached to the conveyor belt. The prongs are inclined forward, and - as can be seen from FIG the angle A between the prongs and the conveyor belt is about 41 °. The conveyor belt 15 thus carries tobacco from the end of the tobacco carpet 14 up. Lumps protruding about too far from the conveyor belt 15 are knocked down by a roller 16, which revolves in the direction of rotation indicated in Figure 2 and with four in the axial direction extending ribs 16A is provided.

The conveyor belt 15 revolves around disks 17 and 18. ι
According to the invention is a second conveyor belt carrying tines 19A

'19 provided, the working line of which corresponds to the working line of the conveyor belt : des 15 is adjacent and substantially parallel to the working strand of the conveyor belt 15 runs. The conveyor belt 19 runs around discs 20 and 21 µm. The prongs 19A carried by the conveyor belt 19 are arranged in rows, each of which is strip-shaped Fastening bodies 19B worn are similar to the Zin- j the first conveyor belt. The prongs 19A are with respect to the [

Prongs 15A offset in such a way that they are between the Zin- j

ken 15A.

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[As can be seen from FIG. 2, the adjacent working strands of the conveyor belts 15 and 19 run slightly towards one another when viewed in the direction of movement. The angle of inclination B between
the working range can - if desired - be adjustable in order to
^: to enable the tobacco to be panted at different strengths. To the
For example, the second belt conveyor can be pivotably adjustable about the axis of the disk 20; Instead, the disks 20 ■ and 21 can be carried by a component not shown in the drawing, which can be pivoted adjustably about the axis of the roller 16.

As can be seen from Fig. 2, the prongs 15A and 19A are in: a bezel 23 'at the upstream end of the conveyor belt 19 ^; separated from each other. Downstream of the area 23 ', the prongs 19A increasingly enter the spaces between the prongs 15A.

The conveyor belt 19 is driven at a slower speed than the conveyor belt 15. For example, the speed of the ' conveyor belt 15 can be twice as great as that of the conveyor belt 19 or

j be smaller. As a result, the prongs 19A are approximately in j

lumps contained in the tobacco on the conveyor belt 15 '

pulled apart and the tobacco carried by the conveyor belt 15
generally hackled and relaxed. ^:

The speed of the conveyor belt 19 in relation to the speed of the conveyor belt 15 can be adjusted if desired. In general, the difference between the speeds of the conveyor belts for long-fiber tobacco can be selected to be larger

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: and selected smaller for tobacco with relatively short fibers

will. This applies under the assumption that e.g. lumps in long- : fibrous tobacco require more pulling apart; on the other hand It is especially preferred for tobacco with shorter fibers; part of avoiding excessive pulling, as a , this could lead to excessive breakage of the tobacco. One can adjust the relative speeds of the Conveyor belts instead of or in addition to the adjustability of the belt conveyor with the conveyor belt 19 around the axis of the disk 20 or the role 16 provide. It is clear that the last-mentioned adjustability can also change the extent by stretching the tobacco. Because when adjusting the inclination of the conveyor belt 19, the length of the route is changed on the the prongs of the two conveyor belts mutually engage with each other, and at the same time the extent of the engagement with each other is also determined changed the prong on the downstream end.

Lumps of tobacco picked up by the prongs 19A of the conveyor belt 19 are stripped off by the roller 16. Instead of this a separate cleaning roller can also be provided for this purpose.

The tobacco located on the conveyor belt 15 is after it is over the disc 18 has run over, by a wing roller 23 from: Conveyor belt 15 removed. The wing roller 23 has flexible wings: 23A which pass between the prongs carried by the conveyor belt 15. The wing roller 23, which could also be replaced by a removal roller j with rigid prongs, flings the tobacco ί down into a hollow 24. The tobacco is turned into a hollow!

wing roller 25 running at a relatively high speed is thrown out, the flexible (or rigid) wing 25A; which extend over the entire length of the trough 24, that is to say over a distance which corresponds to the width of the conveyor belt 15. The trough 24 has a discharge edge 24A through which the tobacco is directed in a slightly upwardly inclined direction. As a result, heavy foreign bodies (and possibly also tobacco lumps and heavy tobacco particles) are thrown over an upper edge 26A of a wall 26. Tobacco particles, however, hit the wall 26 and slide down on it and into a shaft

27.:

An upper portion 26B of the wall 26 is adjustable in the vertical direction; it is detachable through the lower portion of the wall Fasteners 26C attached so that the height of the top edge 26A can be adjusted. The foreign bodies get in a collecting container 26 D, which can be easily removed and thus emptied periodically.

When the tobacco arrives in the shaft 27, it is practically immediately carried away by a tine drum 28 which partially covers the shaft 27 limited. The arrangement is chosen so that the tobacco arriving in the shaft in a relatively loose state is in the The shaft does not pile up, but rather is carried away immediately or essentially immediately by the tine drum 28. The shaft 27 is further limited by a wall plate 29,

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which is part of the way around the tine drum 28 around stretches.

A take-off roller 30 then strips the tobacco from the tine drum 28 and flings it down into the top of a itself

■ downwardly extending channel through an end wall 31 and a rear wall 32 is delimited. The entry of tobacco in

■ this channel can be supported by a roller 31A, the revolves in the specified direction of rotation. Tobacco piles up in the channel delimited by the end wall 31 and the rear wall 32 thus forming a tobacco column which extends down through the channel and which is continuous at the lower end of the column borrowed by a tine drum 33 is carried away. A weight loss

! In turn, roller 34 strips the tobacco from the tine drum 33 and hurls it down against a conveyor belt 35, forward

. preferably in the form of a diverging shower. The conveyor belt 35 is driven at such a speed that the on it

'Form a loose, open carpet when the tobacco particles hit. For example, the speed of the conveyor belt 35 can be between 90 and 300 cm per second (3 and 10 feet per second). That the tobacco-bearing upper run of the conveyor belt 35 runs over a! Washer 36 and is thereby bent slightly downwards, so that

the tobacco in a slightly downwardly inclined direction from the downstream end portion 35A of the conveyor belt 35 toward the

j arrow 37 is thrown down. Above the disk 36 is

: a roller 38 arranged at a peripheral speed

which is equal to the speed of the conveyor belt.

The roller 38 is used to ensure that the tobacco of the web ' of the conveyor belt follows while it runs over the disk 36.!

The tobacco thrown from the conveyor belt 35 may e.g. be shoved down or up through a further shaft against a conveyor belt, on which it is in a known manner builds up to a cigarette filling flow.

Associated with the shaft delimited by the end wall 31 and the rear wall 32 are two position sensors 39 and 40 which e.g. capacitive sensing devices. The position sensors 39 ί and 40 ensure that the height of the through the front wall 31 and the rear Viand 32 limited tobacco column located essentially between an upper limit value and a lower limit value, which is predetermined by the position of the sensing device 39 or 40 adjacent to the tobacco column. For this purpose, the position sensors 39 and 40 control e.g. the speed of the conveyor belt 15 (and accordingly also that of the conveyor belt 19). The corresponding control circuit can be designed so that the speed of the conveyor belt 15 is automatic is increased when the upper end of the tobacco column located in the shaft reaches the height of the position sensor 40 or drops a little below. This increased speed, which can be preset to about 250 mm per second, for example, will last as long maintained until the tobacco column located in the shaft delimited by the end wall 31 and the rear wall 32 Position sensor 39 reached. Then the speed of the

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Conveyor belt 15 reduced, e.g. to a predetermined value of about 80 mm per second. The speed of the tine drum 28; can be kept constant, the tobacco transport capacity of the tine drum 28 being sufficient to cover the entire i to carry away the amount of tobacco arriving in the shaft 27 when the conveyor belt 15 is running at its higher or highest speed.

In the vicinity of the tine drum 28 and upstream of the take-off roller 30, a deflector roller can be arranged, which smooths the tobacco carpet located on the tine drum 28 before this is removed.

The front wall 31 and the rear viand 32, which delimit the shaft in which the tobacco column is formed, preferably run, slightly apart downwards. In addition, the thickness of the tobacco column can be adjusted. This is the rear Wall 32 is pivotally supported by the upper ends of two sets of levers 41 and 42, respectively, one such set being by two Lever is formed. Lower ends 41A and 42A of the levers are hinged to a stationary frame, not shown. By an adjusting screw 43 can thus move the rear wall 32 towards the end wall 31 or away from it, in spite of this the orientation of the rear wall 32 is maintained because the

Lever 41 and 42 form a parallel linkage. The rear j

Wall 32 is shown in the drawing by solid lines in its ^; most extended position shown and shown by dashed lines in their most retracted position. Of the

Distance between the end wall 31 and the rear wall 32 can be | eg at the upper end of the shaft between 17 mm and 26 mm and \ at the lower end of the shaft between 21 mm and 30 mm j. :

I Short tobacco particles between the conveyor belt 12 and the conveyor

; trickle through the belt 15, an extension 32A of the Mn-

j ^:

! direct wall 32 down and into the through the rear wall 32 and the j end wall 31 delimited shaft into it.

; Fig. 3 shows a modified container. At the one shown there

i arrangement is tobacco by a conveyor belt 15 at one with this

I working together, tine-carrying conveyor belt 19 'past

worn above, as in the case of the container of FIG. 1. Again, the , Tobacco removed from the conveyor belt 15 by a wing roller 23.

; In the case of the container shown in FIG. 3, however, the tobacco then occurs j

j directly into the upper end of a downwardly extending j shaft through an end wall 50 and a rear wall ! 51 is limited. In this way it builds up in the

The end wall 50 and the rear wall 51 delimited a tobacco column, the height of which is the same as that of the container shown in FIG is controlled. A tine drum 52 carries the tobacco on lower end of the shaft in the form of a relatively thick carpet away, with the width of the shaft at the upper limit the width specified for the container according to FIG. 1 is or is slightly larger. The one on the tine drum 52, relatively thick tobacco carpet is then removed by another tine drum 53, which in opposite

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'Direction of rotation like the tine drum 52 and with a slightly higher peripheral speed (e.g. 50% higher peripheral speed). During the transfer from the tine drum 52 to the tine drum 53, the tobacco carpet is thus stretched, and his Thickness is reduced. A curved plate 54 helps to hold the tobacco on the tine drum 53. Finally grazes a take-off roller 55 removes the tobacco from the tine drum 53 and flings it down onto a conveyor belt 54 'the like Can have a structure like the conveyor belt 35 shown in FIG. 1.

In the arrangement shown in FIG. 3, too, precautions have been taken to remove heavy foreign bodies. Such foreign bodies They are thrown downward by the wing roller 23 and run on the left side of the upper edge 50A of the end wall 50 past; they are then collected in a collection container 56 '. Tobacco particles are on the other hand by an elongated, leaf-shaped Air jet blown to the right in the drawing. The air jet occurs in the horizontal direction to the right in the drawing from an elongated nozzle 56.

It should be noted that the conveyor belt 19 "of; In FIG. 3, the prongs carried by the conveyor belt 19 shown in FIG. 1 are inclined forwards differently. I.

I.

! The conveyor belt 19 'runs at a slightly greater speed than j the conveyor belt 15. The pins carried by the conveyor belt 15; shaped prongs are inclined slightly forward.

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The tobacco is produced as a tobacco carpet 60 lying on a conveyor belt 62, which can be, for example, 15.5 cm (6 inches) thick, the for- ' derband 15 supplied. The tobacco is through a feed unit 64 and a shaft between a fixed wall 66 and a reciprocating wall 68 is fed to the conveyor belt 62. The tobacco is fed pneumatically to the feed unit 64, if necessary. The reciprocating wall 68 is on its surface with a low coefficient of friction having coating provided. The reciprocation of the wall 68 occurs in its own plane and in successive ones Cycles that each have a slow downstroke and a; exhibit rapid upstroke. The drive of the wall can e.g. be done using a pneumatic servomotor with a return spring. A sensor 70 causes the supply of a white ' teren amount of tobacco through the feed unit 64 when the level of the

Tobacco falls below feeler 70. One weighed down by a weight Flap 72 serves to pull the Täakteppich down slightly;

to press. ^!

i An advantage of the arrangement shown in Fig. 3 for feeding

Tobacco to the conveyor belt 15 is that a carpet 60 is well- ■

defined heights is generated and that with a compact arrangement ^:

a large total capacity for tobacco is obtained. i

i Fig. 4 shows a different design of the shaft in the case of the in |

Fig. 3 shown container. Instead of a continuous rear

Wall 51, three wall sections 51A, 51B and 51C are provided,

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ί which are arranged at an increasingly greater distance from the end wall 50; are. Of course, more or fewer wall sections can also be used; are provided. At each stage between successive _; Wall sections 51A, 51B, 51C have a gap through which air can be blown in in the direction of the arrows shown. This reduces the risk of the shaft clogging. A gap can also be provided at the upper end of the shaft through which another similar air jet can be passed. Each of the wall sections 51A, 51B, 51C can run away slightly downward from the end wall 50.

Instead of the second conveyor belt 19 carrying tines, two tine carrying rollers can also be provided in a further modification are arranged approximately where in the containers shown in the drawing, the disks 20 and 21 are, the The prongs of the downstream roller reach closer to the conveyor belt 15. The distance of each of the rollers from the conveyor belt 15 and their Speed can be adjusted.

609846/0727

Claims (15)

PATENT CLAIMS ! My container for a cigarette making machine, characterized in that that it has: have a first prong j the belt conveyor (15) with a working strand, a device; (11.12; 62-72) for applying tobacco to the working pipe or spines
i of the first tine / having belt conveyor (15) and one or spines
second prongs / having belt conveyor (19; 19 ')> whose type ■ · beitstrum the working strand of the first belt conveyor (15) '' is adjacent and runs essentially parallel to it and which runs at a speed different from the speed of the first belt conveyor j; and that the prongs (15A,! ^; 19A) of the two belt conveyors (15, 19; 15, 19 ¹ ) are arranged ₍ i ι j are that they each tape between the prongs of the other ^; ι run through the conveyor and the tobacco is hacked and / ' j or lumps in the tobacco are pulled apart as the tobacco advances between the belt conveyors I will. 2. Container according to claim 1, characterized in that the tobacco remains on the first belt conveyor (15) after it has passed the second belt conveyor (19; 19 '), and that a device (23) is provided for removing the tobacco from the first belt conveyor. $ 098 ^ 8/0727 3. Container according to claim 2, characterized in that the second belt conveyor (19) runs in the same direction as the first belt conveyor (15), but at a slower speed is driven. 4. Container according to claim 3, characterized in that the prongs (15A, 19A) on both belt conveyors (15,19 ') with respect to the direction of movement of the belt conveyor are inclined forward. 5. Container according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that that the second belt conveyor (19; 19 ') in the direction of movement of the first belt conveyor (15) is slightly inclined towards the first belt conveyor. 6. Container according to claim 5, characterized in that the inclination V / inkel of the second belt conveyor (19; 19 ') about an adjustment axis is adjustable, which is at or near that end of the second belt conveyor that with respect to Direction of movement of the working strand of the first belt conveyor (15) is located upstream. 7. Container according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized marked. net that the tobacco after passing through between the two Belt conveyors (15, 19; 15, 19 ') run downwards in one! the shaft (31,32; 50,51) is released, inöem the tobacco? accumulates and forms a column of tobacco, and that means (33-38; 52-55) for continuously withdrawing the tobacco from the lower End of the shaft are provided. 609848/0727 8. Container according to claim 7, characterized by a device (39,40) to monitor the height of the tobacco column in the shaft (31.32; 50.51) and to control the speed of the first Belt conveyor (15). 9. Container according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that the tobacco after passing through between the two belt conveyors (15,19; 15, 19 ') from a centrifugal device (23; 25) is accepted, which throws away the tobacco in one direction in such a way that foreign bodies in the tobacco have a Wall (26B; 50A) fly away while the tobacco hits the wall and down the wall to the shaft (31,32; 5O, 51) slips. 10. A container according to claim 9, characterized in that the the or spines Wall (26) slipping down tobacco from a prong / having Drum (28) is received, from which it is removed by a removal roller (30) that the tobacco in the Well (31,32) flings. 11. Container according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that the tobacco after passing through between the two belt conveyors (15; 19 ') falls down through a leaf-shaped air jet, the normal tobacco over the upper End (50A) of a wall (50) blows, on which the tobacco then slides down ■ into the shaft (50,51), while foreign bodies on j the other side of the wall (50) fall down and so out- | be separated. $ 098 * B / 0727 12. Container according to one of claims 1-11, characterized in that that the first belt conveyor (15) runs upwards and that a third belt conveyor (12; 62) is provided which runs in the direction of the first belt conveyor (15) and the tobacco to the first belt conveyor. 13. Container according to claim 12, characterized in that the third belt conveyor (62) delivers the tobacco in the form of a web (60) of substantially uniform thickness. 14. Container according to claim 13, characterized in that the Thickness of the fleece (60) is essentially in the range of 50 200 mm. 15. Container according to one of claims 12-14, characterized in that the tobacco is fed to a downwardly extending shaft (31,32) after passing between the first belt conveyor (15) and the second belt conveyor (19), in which it accumulates and forms a column of tobacco, that a device (32-38) is provided for continuously withdrawing tobacco from the lower end of the shaft (30,31), and that a wall (32A) is provided which slopes upwards below the adjacent parts of the first belt conveyor (15) and the third belt conveyor (12) extend and convey to the shaft (31,32) those tobacco particles that pass between the: first belt conveyor (15) and the third belt conveyor (12) \ downwards . ^: